In today’s edition: the latest CEO scandal, Naomi Osaka’s comeback, and Matilda Djerf’s lessons in the pivot from influencer to founder.
Djerf Avenue did $36 million in sales last year—relatively small for an apparel brand. But if you were at one of the brand’s pop-ups in New York over the past few years, you’d think it was easily triple the size. Passion for the brand runs deep, with lines of fans wrapping around city blocks, waiting for the chance to experience Djerf Avenue in person.
Some of that interest is in the brand’s founder and namesake: Matilda Djerf, a Swedish influencer who boasts 2.7 million followers on Instagram. That makes her one of the biggest influencers from her home country, and her appeal—from her famous blonde hair to snaps of Swedish countryside life—has crossed borders. She was able to take the style that her followers loved on Instagram and wanted to emulate and turn it into a fashion brand, becoming one of the most successful influencer-native brands since launching in December 2019. Today is what the brand considers its annual holiday, with a community event and pop-up in NYC.
Djerf Avenue sells blazers, button-downs, pajamas, and even bedding at relatively affordable price points (a cardigan goes for $115), aiming to be accessible to Djerf’s young followers. It was early to user-generated content, with product photos styled casually, sometimes in selfies or street style photography, sometimes on Djerf herself. The brand has 30 employees—and a new interim CEO Nanna Hedlund, a longtime Swedish retail exec. Hedlund stepped in after a controversy threatened to engulf the brand last year when employees accused Djerf of running a toxic work environment.
Djerf is now chief creative officer, and she says she’s learned as the brand has grown. As an influencer, her responsibility was to her following and the brands she partnered with. As a founder, it’s to her customers and employees. “Working as an influencer, but then going over to being a founder and having customers who are paying money for the products that you’re making—that’s a completely different responsibility,” she told me over Zoom a few weeks ago after first meeting in New York. “If you’re going from an influencer to founder with no prior experience, you’re not really thinking about that.” The Djerf Avenue customer expects to know where the item they’re buying is produced, what it’s made out of, and its effects on the environment. And they expect the item that arrives at their door to match what they were sold online.
That customer’s needs are also changing as they grow up with Djerf. Eighteen to 24 has been the brand’s biggest age demographic (the U.S. is its biggest market). Djerf is now 28, and she sees customers starting to spend more on bigger-ticket items as they get older and earn more.
Other influencer-led brands are following in Djerf Avenue’s footsteps. Djerf’s favorites include Frankie’s Bikinis, launched by Francesca Aiello, and the Connecticut-inspired Dairy Boy from influencer and tennis WAG Paige Lorenze.
Djerf Avenue is getting ready to get into new categories in beauty and to try in-person retail beyond pop-ups (a department store run is coming).
“We have one customer that is really growing up alongside me,” Djerf says. “It’s like we’re mentally holding hands, going through all these different chapters together.”
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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The Trump admin's crackdown on crime is missing something. New data from Utah finds that the leading cause of homicide in the state is domestic violence—a situation not addressed by deploying the National Guard. Guardian
CEOs are speaking out about cancer diagnoses. In addition to Accenture's Julie Sweet, Flex CEO Revathi Advaithi (No. 62 on Fortune's MPW list) wrote about being diagnosed with breast cancer—and why she chose to continue working through treatment. Time
ON MY RADAR
The orgasm expert who ended up on trial The New Yorker
As Rubio visits Mexico, its president walks a political tightrope New York Times
I'm rooting for female founders' comebacks. And for the end of branding women, from girlboss to tradwife Fortune
PARTING WORDS
"To hang up my racket permanently, for me, would be a very scary thing."
—Naomi Osaka on her comeback at the U.S. Open
